1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the enamel art and more particularly, to transparent low melting enamel frits which are free of lead and phosphorus components.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, the firing temperature of iron enamels ranges from 800.degree. to 870.degree. C. which is higher than A.sub.1 transformation point (723.degree. C.), so that on firing, the crystal form of iron transforms from alpha to gamma iron. By the transformation, the iron sheet or plate is apt to warp or deform due to thermal stresses involved and deteriorates in dimensional accuracy after firing with an increase of fraction defective. Accordingly, the sheet thickness has to be increased. Moreover, when iron sheets are heated at high temperatures, evolution of hydrogen and the like gases adsorbed or occuluded in the sheets takes place considerably. Moisture or water in slip or on iron plate readily reacts, in the range of firing temperatures, with carbon contained in iron sheet thereby evolving carbon dioxide, with the tendency that defects such as bubbles, pinholes and the like are formed in the enamel surface.
Where, for instance, an iron enamel is baked on an inner wall of an molded oven made of a 0.6 mm thick sheet steel at a temperature of 800.degree. to 870.degree. C., the molded article deforms considerably and a good number of bubbles and pineholes are produced, thus the fraction defective increasing. On the other hand, if firing of enamels is possible at temperatures lower than A.sub.1 transformation point, deformation caused by thermal stresses will be lessened with a reduction of defects such as bubbles and pinholes resulting from evolution of gases. This permits use of thin sheets of about 0.4 mm in thickness and makes it possible to apply enamels onto articles of more complicate shapes.
In recent years, great attention has been paid to savings of resources and energies. By lowering firing temperatures of enamel, fuel cost can be reduced. Additionally, use of thinner metal sheets is very advantageous in saving the cost of base metals.
In view of these circumstances, studies have been made in an attempt to produce low melting enamels comprising PbO or P.sub.2 O.sub.5 in Japan and abroad. However, these enamels are still unsatisfactory with respect to environmental contamination, safety against human bodies and cost and thus have not yet taken the place of currently employed enamels which are fired at high temperatures.
Furthermore, enamels are usually needed to have not only the function of protecting the surface of base material, e.g. resistances to heat and corrosion, but also the decorative function. However, conventional low melting lead frits could not satisfy both the functions.
Properties or characteristics as required for the decorative purposes include, for example, aside from smoothness and gloss of enamel surface, color developability and color stability. Conventional low melting enamel frits presented problems in color developability and stability.
In order to impart bright color to enamel layer or surface, two methods are usually used including a method in which colorants (metal oxides) are incorporated in molten frit along with other materials and a method in which pigments are added to transparent or clear frit (called transparent glaze) as a mill additive. The latter method is more advantageous in that color control is easier, usable pigments are larger in number, and brighter color can be formed. Another advantage is that this method is better in economy because only one frit suffices for forming enamel layers of different colors. Pigments added to transparent glaze in the latter method are ordinarily prepared by mixing various coloring metals or oxides thereof with clay or alumina, calcining the mixture at suitable temperatures, grinding it to pieces and washing with water. Pigments used as a mill additive are generally used in an amount of about 1-10 wt% of frit. Conventional borosilicate clear frits which are fired at high temperatures of 800.degree. to 850.degree. C. are commercially available. In order to obtain enamel layers of different colors using borosilicate frits, it is essential to apply two slips for forming one ground coat enamel and one cover coat enamel does not ensure satisfactory adhesion strength and results in poor appearance because bubbles and pineholes are produced by reaction with base metal.
Occurrence of bubbles, pinholes and the like is mainly attributed to evolution of hydrogen gas by reaction of water from slip and steam in furnace with base steel. This reaction can be expressed by the following formula (1). ##STR1##
For one cover coat enamel, the reaction of the above formula occur vigorously at very high firing temperatures of 800.degree. to 850.degree. C., so that bubbles, pineholes and the like are formed in the surface of enamel in large amounts and thus the appearance becomes poor. In order to avoid this, ground coat enamel is formed so that the reaction with base steel is suppressed and adhesion to base metal is improved.
A so-called two-coat enamel which is obtained by application of conventional ground coat and cover coat enamels of the high temperature firing type is high in production cost because a number of processing steps are necessary. A large proportion of the cost is occupied by the application and firing costs and the cost of frit. Additionally, great thermal stresses are produced by the firing under high temperature conditions as described before, thus lowering the yield of the process. As a whole, the production cost becomes high in case of the conventional two-coat enamel.
On the other hand, low melting enamel frits have a number of merits that strains caused by firing are reduced because lower firing temperatures are used and the reaction of the afore-indicated formula hardly occurs with bubbles and pineholes in the enamel surface being produced only in a small degree. In addition, only one coat enamel is sufficient for application of low melting enamel frits. For transparent glazes such as for lead frit which is one of conventional low melting frits, it is easy to impart various colors such as pink, green, blue, brown, black and the like by adding, to the glaze, pigments comprising relatively stable coloring metal oxides. However, such glazes show poorer compatibility with pigments based on cadmium sulfide and cadmium selenide which are chemically and thermally unstable. Accordingly, it was very difficult to impart red, yellow, orange and the like colors to the glazes. The reason for this is due to the fact that the sulfur or selenium component in the pigment readily reacts with lead in lead frits to form black lead sulfide, rendering the enamel surface black. That is, the conventional lower melting lead frits could not be imparted with all colors thereto or could not be stabilized in color tone.